The Dallas Cowboys are enduring one of their most challenging seasons in recent memory, but apparently it doesn't take much for owner Jerry Jones to profess confidence that better days are ahead for his team.

The Cowboys (5-7) were able to hang on for a 27-20 victory over the last-place New York Giants, and Jones took that as a good sign for his team. He said after the game that he saw improvement from his team, and that meant that the Cowboys were going to have opportunities to win additional games in the weeks to come.

“The bottom line is I see improvement,” Jones said. “And with improvement, then we got teams ahead of us (over the final 5 weeks) that we can (beat).”

The Giants fell to 2-10 with the loss and they have not won a game since registering a 29-20 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5. Since that time, the Giants have lost seven consecutive games. Because the Giants have struggled so badly, it's difficult to see why Jones believes his team has a legitimate chance to start winning games against the better teams remaining on the schedule.

Perhaps a good argument can be made for head coach Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys beating the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers in the next two weeks, but the final three games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders could be too much to ask.

Cowboys take charge in third quarter vs. Giants

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The Cowboys had a narrow 13-10 lead at halftime over the Giants as Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown tipped a Drew Lock pass and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown. That gave the Cowboys a lead that they were able to take into the locker room.

The Dallas offense came to life in the third quarter as Cooper Rush threw a 2-yard pass to Brandin Cooks that extended the lead to 20-10 and running back Rico Dowdle followed with a 4-yard TD run. That gave the Cowboys some breathing room.

It turned out the Cowboys needed that 17-point advantage because the Giants got within 7 points when Lock scrambled 8 yards for a touchdown with just 2:18 remaining in the 4th quarter.

Rush had a solid game under center for the Cowboys as he completed 21 of 36 passes for 195 yards with 1 TD and no interceptions. Dowdle had an excellent game running through the middle of the Giants defense. He demonstrated his power and determination by carrying the ball 22 times for 112 yards.

Lock, who got the start over the injured Tommy DeVito, completed 21 of 32 passes for 178 yards with 1 interception. He also carried the ball 4 times for 57 yards.